Action - Why Can't I take it?

I am a fairly intelligent human, yet I am stuck (again)!

Last month, we discussed how not having the proper support can cause a project, book, or even a whole business to stall. The lack of infrastructure can zap us not only of momentum but also our passion and desire to follow through. Even though having good support is key, and delegation will always be the top solution I think you should seek, but let's look more at the psychology of how you got here in the first place. Why do you feel stuck? Your ideas are good. Your story is important and needs to be heard. Your business idea is legit, AND you are a smart person, so why are you feeling flat and cannot seem to get past the initial starting lane of anything you set out to do? With hard work and determination, you might power through and do the absolute bare minimum, but you struggle past that. WHY??

A Korean neuroscientist conducted a study that found highly intelligent people overthink themselves into action paralysis. They analyze the risks, outcomes, and all possibilities. Before they know it, they are trapped in an imaginary box of clarity. That clarity doesn't help them make better choices; it tells their psychological system that any action could pose a danger. Turning their intelligence into a prison.

People who live in a Direct Experience Network (DEN) don't have better ideas or better plans; they simply don't have a brain that constantly talks them out of action. They live in motion rather than in simulation. As a fellow TikToker put it so well-- they don't rehearse life; they collide with it. What can look like a lower IQ from the outside is often just a lack of overanalysis. They don't sweat the small stuff. They move. They take action without endlessly forecasting outcomes.

Of course, in no way am I suggesting you should make random decisions all willy-nilly. You may have run the analysis of all the ways a particular action will or will not work, but chances are you haven't factored in your own adaptive skills: your ability to pivot in real time, your capacity to negotiate, or your talent for connecting with people on a personal level when you are face-to-face. These muscles didn't become strong by accident, and they won't get stronger without use. These skills cannot be taught; they must be experienced. By remaining safely tucked underneath your glass ceilings, you miss out on the very environments where those abilities sharpen and opportunities present themselves.

Here's where the fun begins. Now that you have an idea of what is slowing you down, what do you do about it? More often than not, the block isn't the task itself but rather the risk you have attached to it.

If I build this website and it brings a million clients, I will be overwhelmed, and I am not ready for that level of responsibility.

If I publish the book, I'll have to do live book signings, and I will gain all kinds of notoriety that I am just not prepared for.

And yet, when you strip it down, that outcome is often the very goal you are working toward in the first place! Not all risks are bad; some are just very real and look scary.

How do we trick our brains into NOT registering the risk as a bad thing?

Think small. What is a small, low-risk action I can do today that will give me data? Maybe I will just create the webpage, but not publish it yet. Maybe I will get the book formatted so that it is ready to send to the publisher, but I won't actually send it yet. Or I will go to this networking event for exactly 22 minutes and 18 seconds. If it is absolutely horrifying and awful, I will get up and leave at that time. All things are simply to collect data. How close can I get to the goal without shutting down again? Through these small action steps, we retrain our minds to see that the big, scary things are not so scary. We CAN do hard things with enough patience and consistency. The more we practice and the more little things we do, the more momentum we gain and the closer we get. Motion begets motion. That is science.

Another bit of advice...rather than asking all the "what if" questions, rephrase it and answer "...then what?"

If the sky is falling, then what will I do?

I would hope you'd run for cover, but maybe you have a more creative idea to get out of that scenario. Chances are, if you are an overthinker, you'll have more success focusing on your plans, and when plans and support are in place, movement happens.

As always, if you are really struggling with this, we would love to get you on a call and see how we might strategically give you the reframe to get moving again!